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Did Deborah Kafoury's leadership take the Sellwood Bridge from a languishing project to one now under construction? PolitiFact Oregon

Deborah Kafoury canvass in Gresham

Deborah Kafoury, shown here canvassing a Gresham neighborhood last month, is running for Multnomah County chair. PolitiFact Oregon checks her claim that "under her leadership," the Sellwood Bridge went from a project that had languished for years to one now under construction.
(The Oregonian)

Awful things happen when bridges collapse. The 2007 collapse of the Interstate 35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis, for instance, left 13 dead and scores more injured. The calamity was blamed on a 1960s design flaw in plates used to connect bridge beams.

Closer to home, Multnomah County officials worried about the stability of the Sellwood Bridge for years.

No one thought the bridge was about to fall down, but everyone knew it needed to be replaced. Cracks in the structure’s concrete and steel, along with extraordinarily high use -- it’s the busiest two-lane bridge in Oregon -- earned it a two on a federal bridge-safety scale of 100.

Deborah Kafoury was a former state legislator and a Multnomah County commissioner when she stepped down in October 2013 to run for Multnomah County chair. She faces attorney Jim Francesconi and four other candidates in the May 20 primary. Her campaign website lists the Sellwood Bridge among her accomplishments.

“When Deborah took office,” it claims, “the project had languished for years, with only $11 million in funds. With her leadership the remaining funding was secured that got the project moving forward.”